


Coin

by glitteringeva



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Comforting, F/M, mentioned childhood trauma, rwby rare pair week, rwbyrarepairweek, takes place somewhere during or after volume 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 17:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12137592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitteringeva/pseuds/glitteringeva
Summary: “Just… please convince me. To run or to stay, I don’t care. I’m dead either way, Merc. Just help me choose how I go, okay?”





	Coin

The nights were worse. As if he could even keep night and day apart out here. Sometimes he felt like a kid again, dreading the monsters outside, not daring to close his eyes. Maybe that was the worst part, the monsters bringing back those from his past. So he kept lying wide awake, staring at the ceiling and trying to ignore the noises outside.

He knew it was Emerald when his door creaked open, but he still sat up, ready to jump out of the bed any time. She gave him an unusually apologising look and carefully closed the door behind her. He recognised the sweater she was wearing, it was his.

“Did I wake you up?”, she whispered.

“No.” He lied back down. Emerald sat down on the edge of the bed as if she tried to get as far away from him as she could. She pulled her knees to her chest and it made her look younger, vulnerable. He knew she would get mad if he told her, he knew it would upset her because she never wanted anyone to think she was vulnerable even though she so clearly was.

“Can we talk about something?”, she asked. Her voice was shaking.

“Did you cry?”

“Shut up.” She rested her head on her knees and closed her eyes as if she couldn’t even look at him. “What are we even doing here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think we should leave?”

He stared at the ceiling, the question lingering heavy between them until he finally found the courage to speak. “Leave?”

“Just look at… you have seen those things she made”, she whispered. “You have seen what we have done in Vale. You have seen what happened to Cinder, her maiden. If not even she is safe, what do you think will happen to us? No one here cares if we live or die, no one-“

“I know.” He sighed and sat up. “Do you really think I’m stupid enough to believe anyone here cares about me? This is a job, not a happy family.”

Maybe his words had been too harsh because she turned her head away from him. “What if we ran away?”

“You know what they would do.”

“And what if we stay?”

“You said it, look at Cinder.”

“Just… please convince me. To run or to stay, I don’t care. I’m dead either way, Merc. Just help me choose how I go, okay?” Her voice broke.

“Just throw a coin.”

She looked up. “Not helping”, she said harshly.

“I’m serious. If you care that little just throw a coin. If you’re dead either way it doesn’t matter anyway, does it?”

“Fuck you.” She wanted to get up but he pulled her back by her wrist, into his arms. For a moment he was sure she would punch him or yell at him, but she just leaned back, her back against his chest, letting him wrap his arms around her. She was shaking.

“You should care”, he said. “If you go into things like that, thinking you won’t survive it anyway, you either just won’t do it or you will fail. Do it because you hate this place or because it’s the right thing to do or because death is better than this, but just doing anything because you don’t care enough to make a choice won’t get you anywhere.” He leaned his forehead against her shoulder and closed his eyes. “It’s not about this being your choice or any of that bullshit, it’s because if you don’t care you won’t make it.”

“I do care. I just… I don’t know what to do.”

“You are too scared to make that choice.” He hated to talk about this, it reminded him too much of his own past. “You want me to make it for you, so you can blame me or because it gives you some sort of security, but that would just stop you from really believing in that choice, committing to it a hundred percent.”

She reached behind to stroke the back of his neck, bury her hand in his hair. It was a rare gesture of affection, reserved for rare moments when they were sure no one was watching. Even then they almost didn’t dare to. He pressed a kiss on her neck, soft and warm. “If I left, what would you do?”

“You have no idea how to do this, do you think I would let you leave without me?”

“As if I wanted you to come with me.” She turned her head to look at him.

“You do.” He smirked bitterly. Her lips were warm when she kissed him.


End file.
